Synthwave Covers of Metallica, Death + More Are Here

The influence of John Carpenter, a synth artist known for composing popular horror soundtracks (including the theme from Halloween), has been on the rise over the last decade, ushering in a new age of synthwave artists, almost all indebted to Carpenter's work. The style has achieved crossover appeal with the metal community as acts like Perturbator find themselves on festival bills like France's Hellfest. Now some of your favorite metal songs have undergone a synthwave transformation.

The SoundCloud user MusaTariq5 has revamped Metallica's thumping "For Whom the Bell Tolls," Death's already horror flick inspired "Evil Dead," Candlemass' aching "Solitude" and Burzum's buzzsawing "Duneklheit," as heard below. Each track transcends its heavy metal origins and translate perfectly into this realm. The approach of both styles is similar, predicated on dark moods and melody-rich passages to drive a narrative, be it clips of film or vivid lyricism.

"Evil Dead" and "Dunkelheit" are a little more naturally built for this synth frame as the opening lead of Death's "Scream Bloody Gore" classic was loosely based off the Evil Dead film theme. Meanwhile, Varg Vikernes had already exploited his talents as an ambient artist with a synth-exclusive track on Filosofem, the album from which "Dunkelheit" is featured. He also released MIDI-based recording while in prison, strengthening the band's sonic ties to this synthwave update.